Sunday night wrap-up: Broncos win without scoring a pile

Posted by Darin Gantt on November 18, 2013, 12:08 AM EDT

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Peyton Manning might not be completely healthy.

But it might not matter.

The Broncos quarterback with the sore right ankle had plenty of help from a fired-up defense, which wanted to show they could stop someone too.
The Broncos held the previously undefeated Chiefs in check during a 27-17 win, and it wasn’t the kind of win the Broncos were accustomed to.
These guys normally play in the 30s (if not the 40s or 50s), so there’s not a premium on their front being dominant.
But against the Chiefs, their line played well, and they got an excellent night from linebackers Wesley Woodyard and Danny Trevathan.
If the Broncos can stop teams the way they did the Chiefs (many of the passing yards were cosmetic), they can be an excellent team. But it will be much tougher for them next week against Tom Brady and the Patriots.

Here are five more things we learned during Sunday Night Football:

1. Two guys who quietly did solid work for most of the night were Broncos tackles Chris Clark and Orlando Franklin.
Clark hasn’t always been great in relief of injured left tackle Ryan Clady, but he stood up well, keeping Manning on his feet throughout the first half.
The Chiefs have made a living getting pressure on quarterbacks, but seemed out of sorts when it didn’t pay off.

2. On the other side of the ball, Chiefs right tackle Eric Fisher does not look like a guy who was worth the first pick in the draft.
He was drafted into a team without an immediate need at left tackle, so moving him to the right made sense. But he looked overmatched at times against the Broncos front, and has too often been noticed this year (the wrong way).
He could still grow into a worthwhile tackle, but if he moves back to the left eventually, he’s going to have to improve as a pass-protector to be worth it.
They are 9-1, and he is good in the run game. But at the moment, it’s a little hard to justify.

3. This just in: The Chiefs are not what you’d call a dynamic offensive team.
But there were probably chances there for them, as wide receiver Dwayne Bowe was running with wide swaths of open field at times. They seem more unwilling than unable to throw it downfield, as quarterback Alex Smith played it safe-as-called.
The Broncos secondary has been hit with injuries and is thin, but Bowe was practically uncover-able at times, and the Chiefs didn’t find him often enough.
And with their early nerves (a false start on their first play of the game in a noisy Invesco Field), it took them too long to get a running game going, which is never a good idea when you’re built the way they are.

4. Broncos running back Montee Ball was able to get a little redemption with his third-quarter touchdown.
And it’s significant that the Broncos continued to give him chances.
A first-half fumble was credited to Manning, though it was a clear miscommunication between the two. The Broncos have doghoused runners before (Ronnie Hillman), and as the season wears on, Knowshon Moreno will probably still get the bulk of the opportunities.
But adding another back they can trust will be huge for them in these kind of games in the future, and allowing Ball to regain that trust should pay dividends in the future.

5. Craig Colquitt needs a new agent. Or advice from Archie Manning.
Because he didn’t get nearly enough run over the last week for the punter duel between his sons Dustin and Britton.
The former Steelers and Colts punter didn’t seem to be doing many interviews about the high-profile duel between his kids.
Maybe when they meet again in two weeks, considering his kids did more work than most of the other guys in the stadium, he’ll draw a little more notice.

The Broncos screwed up running out the clock. With 2:50 left they could have run backwards a few seconds so that the clock would go ALL the way down to the 2 minute warning before having to run an extra play. Even Peyton couldn’t figure it out for the coaches. Elway and Peyton just can’t figure out how to work out a simple NFL clock problem. There they are just twiddling their thumbs instead of thinking how to win with even better odds. It’s pathetic that this is arguably the best team in the NFL, and I’ve already caught Pete Caroll with making way too many strategy mistakes like this.

Alex Smith will not throw the ball down field and that’s why the Chiefs won’t be able to over come a 2 possession deficit. Down 10 with 55 seconds left and he was still checking it down. Smith won’t win you many games by throwing all over the field, but he won’t lose you many with mistakes either.

I don’t think either team will be playing in the Super Bowl. The Chief’s dink and dunk offense isn’t helping the defense at all. Their hurry up offense lacked a sense of urgency (that’s a trademark of the head coach). Denver was passing the ball half the time when it was time to RUN out the clock. They were lucky Alex Smith doesn’t throw passes over 10 yards. It will be interesting to see both teams play better competition in the weeks to come.

As a Chiefs fan, this is disappointing, but not surprising. Denver is a better team, and this was really their game to lose. At 9-1, the Chiefs are about a million times better than I thought they would be, and there’s a lot of football left.

WOW… Just WoW! No blowout but you can tell the NFL loves their cash COW!! Peyton Manning’s teams can get away with anything and everything out there and the NFL wont’t even blink an eye! Holding on Bowe all night long and a ton of cheap shots from the Bronco D was the story of the night!! I take it the NFL’s refs won’t know what do with themselves next Sunday night when their 2 biggest cash cows face off… Should be fun to watch though!

Broncos were sloppy. If they play like they did tonight, they will lose in KC. Defense made a pedestrian KC offense look good. Chiefs take some positives out of this tilt, Broncos need to correct the D/penalties in a hurry before Pats. Manning not touched is a +.

I’m not a fan of either team, but I stopped watching out of boredom and disgust. All I saw was yellow flag after yellow flag after yellow flag. It was like watching basketball where the game stops every thirty seconds for fouls.

Mix that with kickoffs that are usually nonreturnable touchbacks and football is really starting to suck.

Maybe in two weeks the D can score a few points that the PATHETIC offense couldn’t. Alex Smith is nothing more than a backup QB in this league. Andy Reid wasn’t lighting the world on fire with his play calling either.

After today, it’s safe to say that the Chiefs have the worst starting QB in the division.

I’m no offensive mastermind but Kansas City left a lot of plays on the field. I liked how Reid had utilized Charles and ran the ball more but their best pass plays were bootlegging smith out and moving the pocket which they didn’t do enough. Not to mention that smith got no help from his receivers. He threw a lot of good balls that were dropped. The chiefs defense looked the part..they made manning uncomfortable and stymied them pretty well. Need to protect better and utilize more shifts motions. Manning needs to work on not tipping his plays.. When certain personnel come in he will run the same play continuously out of a same look.. His counters are superb for this reason. Denver ran the ball great. I think Kansas City played fine.. I think they are better than New England now… And on another note flowers is a chump.. Hitting welker like that isn’t playing hard it’s cheap I hope he gets his. That’s terrible

Collinsworth is so horrible…. Doesn’t know the rules. Kept claiming that the chiefs should have got the yardage for the last play and attempted the kick at the end of the half from much closer. Even though declining the penalty means you don’t get an extra untimed play. What a clown.

WOW… Just WoW! No blowout but you can tell the NFL loves their cash COW!! Peyton Manning’s teams can get away with anything and everything out there and the NFL wont’t even blink an eye! Holding on Bowe all night long and a ton of cheap shots from the Bronco D was the story of the night!! I take it the NFL’s refs won’t know what do with themselves next Sunday night when their 2 biggest cash cows face off… Should be fun to watch though!
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Just shut up with the ref BS. Denver was penalized way more than KC, including a very ticky tack taunting call. If that’s the best you can do with your 2 cents, then just keep it to yourself.

LOL at Chiefs fans and their moral victory because they held Denver to 27 and lost by 10. Go join Jerry Jones. All that garbage yall spewed the past two weeks. Go back to your corner. Your team hasnt won more than three games in the AFC West since 2006.

Love the Chiefs critics. Especially the troll that says the media overhyped them. Ya, it wasn’t their 9-0 record, it was the media. Everyone picked the broncos and they won. Great job, they beat a 2-14 team from last year by 10 points. The same team they beat by 30 last year. So who’s better, and who’s declining?

Oh my gosh people, chill out. It was a good game on all fronts. It showed that with a few less mistakes this would have been an even game. That’s the positive for the Chiefs. It was positive for the Broncos because… well, they won. Good game, and the wake up call the Chiefs needed to not become complacent.
I was routing for the chiefs, but the score did not surprise me at all. I look forward to the game in KC, that will be fun.
I’m confused how a 9-1 team becomes “sucky” and a 9-1 team becomes the best? lol you guys crack me up.
I’m really enjoying this season so far, and I’m enjoying the Chiefs. REALLY look forward to the next meeting between these two great teams!
Go Chiefs!!!!

jbaxt says:
Nov 18, 2013 9:59 AM
Love the Chiefs critics. Especially the troll that says the media overhyped them. Ya, it wasn’t their 9-0 record, it was the media. Everyone picked the broncos and they won. Great job, they beat a 2-14 team from last year by 10 points. The same team they beat by 30 last year. So who’s better, and who’s declining?
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But but the Chiefs are the only team to hold the Broncos to less that 20 points since last season. And they lost. But but the Chiefs held the Broncos to their lowest point total this season. And they lost. So who is better, and who is a fraud? You bums screamed and shouted like Oregon fans wanting Alabama. Yall wanted Denver, you get it. A loss, a defense exposed. Best defense since the 2000 Ravens and 85 Bears??? LMAO!!!!!!!!!!! You clowns offer some good laughs. What happened to breaking Manning?

“jrebar88 says:
Nov 18, 2013 10:08 AM
You consider being down 17 points in the game? Chiefs fans are so delusional.”

They were down by one score basically the entire 3rd qtr. You can’t be much more ‘in the game’ than that. They had several chances to tie it at 17 in the 3rd.
I’m thinking you didn’t actually watch the game.

KC losing only by 10 is great. The held Manning in check but they didn’t get the big plays hey needed. The Brandon Albert opening play false start, the Sherman fumble, and the plain lack of disputing Manning were the 3 factors in my opinion. The Arrowhead game should be great.

Denver played well.
The Chiefs played terribly offensively, and the DEF line was dominated.
Yet, they still had ample chances to tie it up in the 3rd qtr.
These two teams are closer than most Denver fans realized.

And this game ended exactly as I predicted. Chiefs D would hold Peyton under 30 and the Chiefs would still lose the game by not scoring. Where was that 45-10 blowout that all the Donkey fans were predicting? Donkeys lose the next two.

Chiefs defense is as legit as it gets, but these days it doesnt matter how legit it is, certain teams will be able to score on it. The broncis are one of those teams, and the chiefs just dont have the offense to keep up. Hell of a job by andy reid, coach of the year imo. But it is what it is.

Not a fan of either team, but I really enjoyed the game. Two takeaways for me, feel free to disagree.

1) Trade Bowe. Blow up the receiving corp. Alex Smith is what he is, but receivers that occasionally brain fart & drop balls or turn the wrong way really hurt an average QB, especially one that’s notoriously risk-averse. What if Smith had one of those rare receivers that makes a QB better? I saw someone mention Andre Johnson. Or what about Larry Fitzgerald? Isn’t he in a contract year? An all-star receiver with a good work ethic that’s truly on the same page with AS might give him the confidence to throw the dang ball. Bowe is not that guy. If I were the Chiefs, I’d think hard about that in the off season. For the QB they picked, I think solid and reliable is better than talented but dodgy.

2) Seems like Peyton’s running this team with Fox out. Agree with the clock-management comments. Even for PM, it’s asking a lot to play QB *and* be the head coach. Del Rio needs to put his big boy pants on and take the reins at times.

Bronco fan here – KC defense is as good as advertised. DEN O line just did an excellent job. These teams will split. Division will be decided by remaining games other than head to head. Tough game for Broncos next week.

Game went like I thought, Low scoring 2 great defences go at eachother. Yes I said it 2 great defences, Denver’s D has been dominate this year expecially against the run. There number are down because they can coast through the games that they were winning by 28 for the most part of half the season. The diffrence here was being at home and having Peyton Mannning at the helm. I thought AS played pretty good, didn’t turn the ball over (even though that 4th down pass was a INT at the end of the game) and kept the game close for the most part until the end of the 3rd quarter. I expect a much closer game when we head out to Arrow Head!
Go Broncos !!!

Interesting to watch Peyton have to be a game manager, and how much he seemed to dislike it. They balanced their play to take time off the clock, defense did a great job, and showed they were more than just a one trick pony.

nfl4days says:
Nov 18, 2013 12:34 AM
The chiefs need WRs bad. Don’t be surprised if they try and Trade for Andre Johnson next year if AJ really wants out.
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Andre isn’t going to the Chiefs unless forced by trade. He wants a QB that can/will throw it downfield. Reid and Kubiak run similar offenses. AJ is over the dunk and dink plan.